Moldova opens Embassy in UAE

10 May 2018- Moldova’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Tudor Ulianovschi, inaugurated the Moldovan Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. The mission is set to become the 41st diplomatic mission of Moldova abroad.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the UAE State Minister Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, members of the Moldovan Government, representatives of diplomatic corps accredited in the UAE, business people from Moldova and UAE, as well as the representatives of the Moldovan diaspora.

The diplomatic relations between Moldova and UAE were established on 21 December 1995, having 7 bilateral treaties signed up until now. Moldova exports goods worth 2,47 million USD while importing goods worth 1,89 million USD from the UAE.

This is the luxurious lifestyle of Moldova’s ex-PM’s son. All three bank accounts of Vlad Luca Filat were frozen

Vlad-Luca Filat, the son of the former prime minister Vlad Filat, bathes in luxury and wealth. He rented a Knightsbridge villa for which he pays £1.000/day. Earlier this week, magistrates decided to freeze the three bank accounts held by the young man and seize about £500.000. The decision was made after the former Prime Minister’s son couldn’t explain where the money came from, the National Crime Agency (ANC) informs.

After moving to London in July 2016 to finish his studies, Vlad-Luca led an extravagant lifestyle, spending a lot of money on luxury goods and services, such as buying a Bentley Bentayga, worth £200,000, the source quoted.

One of the most expensive beaches of the Nikki Beach region was rented by the son of the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Luca Filat. On a couple of pictures published on the Facebook social network back in 2015, Luca was splashing in the company of friends with champagne and not “Dom Perignon”, the value of which is €500, according to the price list published on the official site of the resort. From the pictures below, the identity of the young man is confirmed by comments by his friend Yurii Pervac, with which he appears in the pictures.

It seems even more unusual that the luxury that Vlad Filat’s son allows him to wear clothing that Moldovan young people don’t dare to dream about, such as the Zilli belt, a brand whose belts cost about €3.500.

The order to freeze the three bank accounts held by Vlad Luca Filat, 22, came after ANC’s financial investigators suspected that these funds came from the illegal activity of his father, Vlad Filat, the former prime minister of Moldova.

Despite the fact that the 22-year-old student did not register any income in the UK, the HSBC bank records showed that all the expenses the young man was doing were financed by large deposits from overseas companies based in Turkey and the Islands Cayman. In just three days, £98.100 were transferred to his accounts.

In result, the London authorities ordered the son of the former Prime Minister of Moldova, Vlad Filat, to surrender almost half a million pounds, after his son failed to indicate the origin of £390.000, the money for which he intended to rent Knightsbridge penthouse.

Reminder: In July 2016, the former prime minister was sentenced to nine years in prison for colossal proportions of money laundering.

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But what about the son of oligarch and Democratic Party of Moldova leader, Plahotniuc?

Unlike ex-PM Filat, since becoming a politician, Vladimir Plahotniuc made sure he properly hid his property abroad from behind some of the front and intermedia companies, as well as send his sons abroad for safety reasons. The foreign real estate empire of the Moldovan oligarch counts more exclusive properties that never appeared in his wealth statements.

For instance, in September 2018, RISE Moldova has identified four of them. On the Geneva – Sciez – Les Houches – Bucharest axis, villas are worth over 30 million euros, or more than half a billion lei.

Besides luxurious traveling to exotic countries on private planes, buying overly expensive watches, and studying at one of the most expensive universities in Europe (Business School Lausanne), Timofei Plahotniuc lives and studies in Geneva (Switzerland) and runs an exclusive Mansory Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe, a custom-made car that could cost more than €1.000.000.

The car carries the initials of the young man, T.V.P., has exclusive numbers GE 79777 and was caught on the streets of Geneva by expensive car lovers. The pictures have appeared on a famous site of exclusive car lovers.

Freedom House Report: Moldova, still a “partially free” country

Moldova is qualified as a “partially free” country, according to the Freedom House annual report on the state of freedom in the world. Thus, Moldova has accumulated a general score of 58 out of 100 (in which 0 points means “lack of freedom” and 100 points – the “highest degree of political system”), being evaluated on a scale from 1 to 7, with 3.5 in the rating of freedom, 3 from respecting political rights and 4 from civil liberties (1 means “the highest degree of freedom” and 7 “the lowest degree of freedom”).

Ukraine, as well, is considered a “partially free” country. It’s ranked 60th, with a score of 3.5 in the rating of freedom, 3 – respecting political rights and 4 – civil liberties. Romania received 2 at all 3 indices and is the 81st in the world, being considered “free”. More “free” countries are considered to be countries such as Great Britain, USA, Germany, Norway.

On the other hand, countries that are not considered free include Russia, China, Egypt, Venezuela. In relation to the authoritarian states, Freedom House draws attention to the fragile situation of the opposition and independent media from them.

“In states that were already authoritarian, receiving Freedom House designations of “Not free”, governments have increasingly removed the thin façade of democratic practice they set up in previous decades, when international incentives and pressure for reforms were stronger. More authoritarian powers now banned opposition groups or shut down their leaders,” says the Freedom House Report.

The same document points out that this is the 13th consecutive year in which there is “a decline in the situation of global freedoms”.

“The reversal covered a variety of countries in each region, from long-standing democracies like the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia. Total losses are still superficial compared to end-of-20th century earnings, but the pattern is consistent and threatening. Democracy is in retreat,” says the same report.

Reminder: In Freedom House’s last year’s report, Moldova appeared among the “partially free” countries, being passed to the 61st freedom index. The report stressed that high-level corruption is hampering the development of a democratic governance.

“Moldova has a competitive electoral environment. Rights of assembly, speech and religion are largely protected. However, perpetual corruption in the government sector, ties between large political parties and economic interests, as well as deficiencies in the rule of law continue to impede democratic governance,” the Freedom House Report of 2018 points out.

In 2019, 50 countries have made progress and 68 have experienced democratic regressions, according to the report, which this year is entitled “Democracy in retreat.”